September 13, 2019
Yet, with so much to choose from and increasing investment in the LMS, why does Brandon Hall report (Learning Management Tech, 2018) that a mere 9% of organizations are completely satisfied with their current LMS? And, if you’re one of those not happy with your LMS, what should you do about it?
The Brandon Hall survey also reports that around a third of organizations actively want to replace their current LMS and 45% within the next year. So, why the dissatisfaction?
The obvious reasons are that the current LMS isn’t fit for purpose, the promises made by the supplier didn’t materialize and it’s no longer (or never was) right for the organization. Some common complaints include businesses being locked into deals that are inflexible and fixed term. The ROI wasn’t what was promised. New features you need come with a hefty extra cost. Support isn’t at the level it’s supposed to be and again incurs additional outlay. And, also, the plain and simple fact that once the deal has been done and the sale made, the provider lets the customer down.
All these are common pitfalls with any product for any business. But with a buoyant LMS market, it needn’t be that way. There’s choice and opportunity to find the right LMS for your organization. The question is now you’re looking for change, how do you decide what’s right for you?
What you don’t want is to be in the position of swapping providers every couple of years, with all the additional costs and headaches that involves. We can give you some help here with a short checklist of what to look for and what to avoid and to make the right choice, not simply for the moment but for the medium and longer term.
As LMSs develop and incorporate newer technology (AI, for example) they can offer more and more features. It’s easy to be impressed by what’s on offer in a new LMS compared to your existing platform. So, you need to do your homework to figure out exactly what you do – and don’t – need.
But the homework is not simply about comparing specs of competing LMS platforms. It’s more about determining what you need as organization – emphasizing the ‘home’ bit of homework.
You need to analyze what’s worked and what hasn’t from your current LMS. Not just in terms of features, but in how it’s met or hasn’t met your business and learning needs. Focus on the outcomes first, not the means to achieve them.
Clearly outline your business goals. From there create a learning strategy. Figure out where the focus of that strategy rests. Is there a problem with attrition? Do Sales require intervention and remediation? Is there an issue with the Leadership pipeline?
You need to ask these questions and sketch out the answers before engaging with any potential LMS supplier. The relationship you build with your LMS provider is as important as the technical capability of the product and doing due diligence to your own business needs is the start.
Obviously, with any new product you’re looking for improved functionality and new features, but they’re only relevant if they can be used and they can do a job for the organization and its employees. Paying for unused and unusable functionality will be just another cause of future frustration.
Clearly, L&D will have a key role in determining the LMS that fits the business. But there are other key stakeholders too: from IT who have the job of implementing the platform; to managers who’ll want to check progress; and to the learners themselves who’ll want a system that provides what they need when they need it.
And for the end-users, there may be different, competing priorities with Leadership needing resources and peer-to-peer interaction, Marketing wanting strong branding, Sales focussing on performance and numbers and compliance concentrating on granularity to ensure the correct behaviors and regulations are fully observed.
A system that can’t deliver on those fundamental requirements won’t be suitable regardless of all its attractive new features.
When you’re figuring out what you need, you’ll have to project forward, considering roadmaps and likely future demands. This is an inexact business, and any number of factors, internal and external, may cause you to review. So, any LMS platform and provider you choose will need to offer flexibility and adaptability. Your LMS should grow and evolve as your organization does, not hem you in.
From a technical and implementation point of view, you’ll need an LMS that is highly customizable in terms of content selection, adding new resources, updating branding, and enhancing and adapting functionality. It needs to be scalable so you can add new learners, content and geographies. It must integrate seamlessly with new and existing IT systems. It should also run across platforms and devices. Remember the new locus of learning is no longer the desktop but the mobile devices that we use in and outside of work.
From an overall business perspective, costs need to be controlled so you only pay for what you’re currently using. Upgrades should be factored in and not costly add-ons. The LMS provider’s roadmap needs to dovetail with your organization’s own.
The ultimate test of the need for flexibility comes when you have to change your mind. You don’t want to throw out one system and replace it with another with every business challenge or re-org. Adopt a relationship with your provider that recognizes the periodic need for change and offers you the technical tools and customer support to move the relationship in a different direction as circumstances change.
The business relationship you have with your LMS provider needs to concentrate on collaboration, rather than rigid, one-directional supply and demand. It’s not just about what the product offers, but the way it can adapt. Can a company’s frustration around the lack of engagement with their LMS be solved by adding in an LXP (but continuing to use the LMS to drive offline learning and compliance)? And/or rather than simply replacing one LMS with another, is now the time to consider switching to an LXP?
With your provider, you need a partnership that prioritizes scalability and is ever-flexible and adaptable, not set in a fixed moment. It’s not about a single solution, but about a way of working that evolves as your organization evolves. It avoids breakdowns and fosters a growing understanding of the organization’s needs as it moves forward. You’re both driving, in tandem, towards the same goals.
Learning Management Systems are in essence administrator-led platforms. They are designed to “push learning”, where learning material – organized and uploaded by an LMS admin or course developer – is assigned to a certain employee demographic based on formal business needs like compliance maintenance, onboarding or job-related skills and competencies.
An LXP, however, is seen as a learner-led platform where employees can contribute, share or curate content. They can also interact with each other and create resources for their departments or colleagues.
According to Josh Bersin, an industry analyst, a key difference between the LMS and the LXP is that Learning Experience Platforms were designed to be employee-centric and foster a social and collaborative learning culture. While an LMS is a necessary tool to administer and manage compliance and certifications, the goal of an LXP is to encourage learners to engage with training and share knowledge with their peers. If we were to summarise: LMS is for admins and LXP for users.
Leveraging peer-to-peer recommendations, user-generated content & curation, department/role-specific workspaces and external resources unlocks learning in the flow of work and fosters more interaction between employees. This enhances the overall effectiveness of the training your organization provides and boosts employee engagement.
Combining an LMS and LXP, therefore, not only allows employees to become competent in specific subjects rooted in formalized or competency-driven training but also empowers deep subject matter expertise and high levels of proficiency in critical skills.
These competitive skills and communication advantages enable your organization to adapt to unforeseen changes, outperform competitors and provide a best of both worlds training approach (formal and informal learning) for your employees, customers or extended workforce.
You can host instructor-led and compliance-based training alongside peer-created social content or use a combination of methods, to create and support a modern and adaptable learning experience across your organization.
Learning Pool’s Platform is more than just an LMS or LXP. It combines the very best in learning management, learning experience and adaptive content to deliver personalized and purposeful learning with a platform that optimizes learning through intelligent data.
Our comprehensive learning platform delivers personalized experiences at scale by applying insights into who a learner is, what they know, and what they need to learn in real time. The result is more effective training and a team that’s ready to take on the challenges of today and tomorrow. By making learning experiences relevant to each individual and connecting learning to performance, we create extraordinary learning outcomes.
Learning Pool’s Platform offers the ability to create learning plans tailored to your learners’ needs. Programs cover everything from initial onboarding to Leadership training with blended-learning programs that include e-learning, face-to-face training and key learning resources all readily accessible across platforms, devices and locations. SAML2 authentication method allows you to configure for Single Sign-On (SSO) enabling users to seamlessly login to the LMS.
Course completion for compliance is tracked with certifications. The use of open badges formally acknowledges learner attainment and course completion and allows learners to use and share them across the organization. The system comes with powerful reporting tools that allow management to see what’s working and what isn’t, tracking skills and competencies. The reports can be tailored to reflect business hierarchies and help manage teams in disparate locations.
Appraisals allow you to review employees’ past performance while also recognizing their achievements and setting objectives and goals for their future development.
The 360 feedback & goals functionality can be used to increase engagement and allow employees to receive performance feedback from their manager, peers and co-workers.’
Above all, Learning Pool’s Platform delivers technical flexibility. It offers multiple language support for your global reach. Look and feel and content can be easily customized. It accommodates rebranding and allows for regular upgrades and immediate access to the benefits.
It comes with no vendor lock-in but with an active support network and a highly ambitious and robust innovation roadmap, you can see where you can be as the partnership develops.
With Learning Pool you’ll find a highly experienced Learning Platform provider that shares your values and understands your needs as they evolve. We’ll make use of our considerable experience and expertise to work with you to drive your business forward offering you the latest versions so that you grow as we grow. And as other businesses continue to come on board, you can be assured that you’re with the right partner.
So why not make the switch? Check out our blog on How to mitigate the risk of switching your LMS provider.
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